not enough (open to any)

[S u N f r O s t ~]

The first week of June had been going great. SOPS horses had stormed home for the win in nearly every race on the card both here and at TW. Stormi had won again, Lynara and Jayde had defeated the fields in their stakes races almost easily....it had been an expression of pure class and speed. Amber had been feeling good. She had swung into the saddle of Fleet Majesty for the Duchess Stakes riding the confidence high. They had swept home to win the leg of the Turf Triple Tiara and Amber had never felt so good. She had grinned at the pictures, high fived her jockeys and then gone to await the results of the Belmont Turf Classic with bated breath.

The race had been perfect. The ending straight was grueling. The horses were taken up by a length at the end. But Bella Luna had won and Amber Black had felt like hiding in a hole. A Turf Triple Crown winner. Not an SOPS horse but a Witch Creek horse. It was like a kick to the face. SOPS had always succeeded in the Turf Triple Crown, but now for two straight years WCS had been getting in the way. Well not as much WCS last year as her own stress breakdowns but still...it hurt a lot. Icee had dead-heated with Valencia for second and Krystal and Ode had come in third.

As was customary, Amber was right there at the track. She had walked on over to her jockeys as they brought the horses back, looking at them glumly but awaiting their customary comments. Valencia had been grinning hugely. It was a major performance Amber. We only just lost...I think this is great. Icee felt great. I'm going to go congratulate WCS. And so Valencia trotted off, looking above the world. Amber merely nodded and wondered how Valencia could be so accepting of the defeat, realized it could be because the TTC might not have been so ingrained in her mindset as the rest of the staff and then gave instructions to go and take care of the Impressario daughter and then pondered the Canadian Triple Crown for the filly. Krystal was another matter. Her oldest and most reliable jockey was in tears as she pulled up Ode, who looked tired. He wasn't good enough Amber. He hasn't been good enough. I'm sorry Amber....we lost the Turf Triple Crown...

Amber nodded glumly, then looked up sharply. The reporters were coming. She had dallied too long. She needed to flee before they got to her. Why did Witch Creek beat you to the Turf Triple Crown? What do you think of this? All questions she would eventually have to answer, but would prefer to avoid right now. She was happy for Witch Creek, buoyed up by her stable's other successes this week...but it was still hard.

She took a glance back and then walked speedily in the direction of the restricted backstretch, using Ode who Krystal was walking dutifully alongside her as a shield. The minute that she escaped, she sat down on a hay bale and stared out for a while, merely pondering and plotting....they would recover, and she would find a way how.

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ooc/// Open to any who would also like to rp their response to the win xD

[Deleted]

<sup>Aiden gave an short applause as Bella Luna entered the winner's circle. This was the first Turf Triple Crown winner! Of course it didn't take much for his attention to be pulled somewhere else. He wasn't usually the type to celebrate for other stable's achievements but he did appreciate them. He turned his green eyes to look around for the others who had been beaten in the race. He almost immediately spotted Amber Black. He could recall them meeting once before, and had seen her around the track frequently and she was also the trainer of Sillenia. How could he not recognize Amber?

He spotted her trying to get away and saw a crowd of reporters heading her way. Aiden looked back at the winners circle, determined he wasn't going to miss much, and then strode off to follow Amber. She shielded herself with the big grey colt and the sight reminded Aiden much of him and Smiles, after her first race back from the injury. The thought gave him chills; he hoped to never have to go through an injury like that again.

Amber manged to loose the reporters at the security guards that blocked passerbys from entering the backstretch. Aiden walked past, freely and looked down the shed rows. He stopped when he found her sitting on a hay bale. Aiden leaned against a stall door and smiled, half heartitly, "Hey... Amber Black, right?" He and looked down and then back up at her hesitantly, "I'm sorry about your placings. I can tell how much it means to SOPS to be the best of the best when it comes to turf horses." His mind thought back on Sillenia but then also thought of Pegasus Wings, who had been Hailey's favorite horse from outside of the stable.</sup>

[S u N f r O s t ~]

Amber looked up as she was jolted from her thoughts by an unexpected presence. She barely recognized the person before her - where had she seen him before? Oh, yes...Aiden, associated with Triple Krown Racing, associated with Terror Smile. How could she have forgotten to easily? Probably because it had been a while since she had last seen them around. It was good to have them back, though. Her smile was welcoming and not hesitant as she met Aiden's eyes, some of her melancholy thoughts melting away.

That's right. You're Aiden, right? Triple Krown Racing? I'm happy to see you guys back she responded at first, genuinely as she could be. The quiet of the backstretch and knowledge that she still had more tries in the future was beginning to settle in and calm her. Thank you for saying that. I can't really complain seeing as we still went two-three, but I'm finding it hard to believe another stable beat me to it. Though it would be Witch Creek....not that I'm mad about it or anything of the sort. Ripley deserves this and Bella Luna's good. I'm just rattled. She smiled tiredly. I'll get over it. It's just a hit on our morale. The turf has always been an important aspect of our racing.